The Wipperdurchbruch nature reserve is located in an old cultural landscape shaped by man to the northwest of Günserode. Here, the river Wipper runs through a breakthrough valley up to 130 m deep. The protected area is characterised by species-rich dry and semi-dry grasslands, steppe grasslands, rocky meadows, dry-warm shrubs, orchard meadows, former coppice forests, and wetland biotopes at the bottom of the valley, which form a large-scale, closely interwoven mosaic of habitats. The area is one of the most important orchid areas in Thuringia. It is interesting to note that some of today's most species-rich dry grassland areas were still fields 60 years ago, as aerial photographs from 1953 show.

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Steffie Siehr from the NABU group Sömmerda (www.nabu-soemmerda.de) has been in charge of the two sites Wipperdurchbruch and Bottendorfer Hügel since 2020.